


A Heart As Wide As the World

by just_ann_now



Series: Dwarvish Drabbles and Ficlets [12]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Childbirth, Crochet, Drabble Sequence, Gen, Humor, Injury, Knitting, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 15:56:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_ann_now/pseuds/just_ann_now
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A birthday gift for Lady_Branwyn. The original dwarf characters Nali and Bror are hers, and used with her permission.</p><p>if you haven't ever read Lady_Branwyn's ficlet <a href="http://storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?SID=5643&CID=23874">The Onion Riddle</a>, go do that now! You'll be glad you did, and this story will make much more sense.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. The Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday gift for Lady_Branwyn. The original dwarf characters Nali and Bror are hers, and used with her permission.
> 
> if you haven't ever read Lady_Branwyn's ficlet [The Onion Riddle](http://storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?SID=5643&CID=23874), go do that now! You'll be glad you did, and this story will make much more sense.

**The Crisis**

_This would have been handy during the War_ , Beregond thought, peering through the device the dwarf had lent him: two lenses, enclosed in a metal tube, allowing the user to study distant objects as if they were close. He watched as Nali and Bror make their way carefully up the scree-covered slope, then studied the sky, the rock face, the soaring kestrels. He didn't look back at the two dwarves until he heard the terrified bray of the donkey, and Nali's shout. 

Bror lay crumpled and motionless against a stunted tree. _By the Valar_ , Beregond thought. _Oh, please, no._


	2. The Return

**The Return**

_It could have been a snake,_ thought Beregond, his face white and set as they made their slow way back to Emyn Arnen. It could have been a coney, or even a fluttering leaf. Anything at all could have made that gormless beast start and kick in fright, knocking young Bror down the slope as dust rose and rockfall clattered. Ill luck it was, not anything that he, or Nali, or even the witless donkey could have prevented. 

Still, he felt sick at heart as Nali told Lady Éowyn, "This is my wife, five months gone with child.  
I fear -"


	3. The Recovery

**The Recovery**  
Long rest to heal the broken leg was a time of watchful waiting; the whole household breathed a sigh of relief at the news that the babe, finally, had stirred and kicked. 

"Give me something useful to do while I sit," Bror implored. Her hands too rough for spinning or fine embroidery, the women of Emyn Arnen taught her knitting and hookwork. With her beard neatly tucked up over her shoulder, Bror stitched the days and evenings away. Through midsummer and harvest, and on towards the turning of the year, the household curled itself around mother and long-awaited child.


	4. The Celebration

**The Celebration** _(A Double Drabble)_

Tradition was, if the first man through the door on _yestarë_ was dark-haired, good fortune would bless the household throughout the year. There was some debate as to whether a dark-haired dwarf counted the same as a dark-haired man. At Emyn Arnen, the tradition was to create new traditions, and thus it was decreed over many cups of spiced wine that what mattered was the dark hair, and not what was underneath it. The tale of Nali's frantic ride through snow and sleet, his arrival just in time to hear the newborn's first cries, would be retold for years to come. 

"To my daughter, Lif! Is she not the fairest child ever born?" Some of the men choked, trying to conceal their smiles; the women nodded, misty-eyed. Beregond peered curiously at the lace-wrapped bundle, prepared to mouth some meaningless compliment.

The girlchild had a full head of hair, curly as corkscrews, a rosebud mouth, and downy fuzz on cheek and chin: the beginnings of her beard. She blinked up at him like a newly-fledged owl, and he was smitten. 

Beregond raised his cup. "To loveliest dwarf-maid I've ever known," he replied; truly, she was.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Visitors, m'am," called Mag from the kitchen. "Strangers." 

Intrigued, Eowyn scooped up Elboron and set him on her hip, hurrying to the door.

 _Strangers, indeed._ Dwarves, ponies, and a family of odd-looking Men. Taller than dwarves, their faces were wrinkled and sunburnt; a man, a woman, two boys, all colorfully dressed. And their beasts! Pony-sized, with impossibly long necks and legs and thick, shaggy fur. 

"Greetings, my lady!" The youngest dwarf bowed low. "I am Dýri, son of Hafr, brother to Bror, your guest here several years ago. I have brought these creatures, these _vicugni,_ as a gift in gratitude for your kindness. For as my sister says, 'You have a heart as wide as the world'."

Éowyn was speechless. For a long moment, they all stared at each other.

"Funny beasties!" cried Elboron.

Éowyn laughed, as did the dwarves, men, and all the onlookers now gathered in the stableyard. The ponies snorted happily; the _vicugni_ began to hum.

"Welcome," said Eowyn. "Welcome to Emyn Arnen."


End file.
